Simulations of Energy Yield Improvement in Utility-Scale PV Plants Using Distributed Maximum Power Point Trackers

We have developed a model that quantifies the mismatch loss within a utility-scale photovoltaic array. The model evaluates the impact on mismatch loss from non-uniform irradiance profiles resulting from cloud coverage. We calculated the sensitivity of energy yield to cloud-edge length, module-string length, and the number of maximum power point trackers (MPPTs). We calculate the energy loss from a cloud-edge event to be less than 0.4%, with a small decrease in lost energy after implementing multiple string level MPPTs. This loss is reduced by at least an order of magnitude over an entire year in locations with infrequent cloud coverage.